Shift container vending mechanism



Sept; 2, 1941. R. z. GREENE E'I'AL 2,255,007

' SHIFT QONTAINERQVENDING MECHANISM I Filed Sept. 25 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet1 IQyENTOR 5 6W :3}. M W

ATTORNEY P 1941- R. z. GREENE ETAl I 2,255,007

SHIFT CONTAINER VENDING MEQHANISM ATTORNEYS in an adjacent hopper.

Patented Sept. 2, 1941 2,255,007 SHIFT CONTAINER MECHANISM Robert Z.Greene, Glen Ridge, and Christian Gabrielson, Belleville, N. J.,assignors to Rowe Manufacturing 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application September 23, 1938, Serial No.231,290

6 Claims. (01. 312-67) machines.

It is an object of the invention to provide, in the class of vendingmachine in which several difierent kinds of brands of merchandise arevended, means for varying.tne ratios between the numbers of the variouskinds or brands of merchandise carried by providing reserve storagespaces for certain brands, and-preferably utilizing portions of thecontainers for certain brands as storage spaces for others.

In the cigarette vending field, which may be taken as typical, machinesare customarily pro-. vided with a number of verticalchutes or hoppersadapted to hold columns of packages of cigarettes, the usual number ofsuch hoppers being six or eight. As will be apparent, the variation inthe numbers of different brands of cigarettes which the machine can'hold is severely limited. For example, in a six column machine,.if fivebrands are to be vended, the only possibility is to carry an equalnumber of four brands and twice as many of a fifth. It is, however,desirable to approximate the number of packages of various brandsstocked in the. machine to proportionality to the sales volume of thevarious brands. In accordance with the present invention in itspreferred form, one or more of the hoppers may be divided into twosections, one of which may contain a short column of a slow between thenumbers of various brands carried.

A still further object of the invention is to carry out the foregoingobjects in a simple and rugged construction and to adapt the normaldelivery mechanism of the machine to carrying out the desired shiftsfrom one container to another in a reliable and fool-proof manner.

With the foregoing and other objects, which will appear in the followingfull description, in mind, the invention consists in the combinations,arrangements and details of parts which will first be described inconnection with theaccompanying drawings and then more particularlpointed' out in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a container unit for acigarette vending machine embodying the invention in a preferred form;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 and onan enlarged scale;

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the lower part of the device of Figurel, and on an enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2 and on the same scaleas Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is an'enlarged sectional detail taken I on the line 55 ofFigure 4.

moving brand and the other of which may contain a short column of apopular brand and is adapted to replenish the supply of that brand Aswill be apparent, if but one hopper in a six-hopper machine is soadapted by dividing it into two sections of equal capacity, it becomespossible to load the machine with equal numbers of four brands, half asmany of a fifth, and one and one-half times as many of a sixth. Wherefive brands are stocked it is possible to carry, for example, equalnumbers of three brands, half as many of a fourth, and two and one-halftimes as many of a fifth, and still other variations will be readilyapparent. Where more than one 'hop'per in a machine is so adapted thepossibility-of variation is even more increased.

A further object of the invention is to adapt certain of the hoppers ina machine to carrying either a single column in the manner well known inthe art or a divided column in accordance with the present invention,which still further increases the possibility of variation in the ratios5 be of any usual or suitable type.

Referring to these figures generally, the device illustrated comprises acontainer unit generally of a type familiar in the art and such as isshown, for example, in co-pending Rowe and Gabrielson application No.26,734. The coin control mechanism and cabinet to be employed form nopart of the present invention and may Accordingly, these features arenot illustrated or described.

Referring particularly to Figure 1, the con- 'tainer unit illustrated,comprises six vertical chutes or hoppers numbered from I to 6, of whichnumbers 3 and 5 are adapted to split column operation in the manner tobe described. As will be apparent from the following full description,it is possible with the mechanism disclosed, to

adapt as many as half of the 'hoppers in a machine of this type to suchoperation. As shown, the hoppers comprise side walls I and back walls 8and are welded or otherwise fastened together to form a row of adjacenthoppers reinforced by cross bar 9 at the front and plate I 0 at therear, and forming a unitary structure adapted to be inserted in orremoved from a vending machine as a whole. These hoppers are ofgenerally conventional shape and are open at the front save for flangesH, and are open at the top for loading and adapted to hold by members l3carried on delivery plungers l4,

which are movably borne in grooves, not shown, in a bed plate I5.Cigarettes are delivered in the usual manner by pulling a plunger |4 outas far as it will go (to the left in Figure 2) which removes the support|3 from the column of cigarettes, which thereupon descends by gravityuntil the lowermost package is resting on the bed plate l5. Upon returnof the plunger to the position of Figure 2, the lowermost package isexpelled for delivery and the column and plunger are again in thecondition of Figure 2 except that there is one less package ofcigarettes in the container.

Mounted on the rear of each of the hoppers I to- 6 is a match hopper l6adapted to contain a vertical column of books or packages of matches ll.Each column of matches is supported by the upper end of a bell'cranklever i8, which is pivoted at I9 to a bracket 29 onthe plate l andbiased rearwardly-to the position of Figure 2 by a spring 2|. Formed onone arm of bell crank lever I8 is a stop 22 which prevents rearwardmotion beyond the position of Figure 2 and the other arm of the lever I8is pivotally connected at 23 to a link 24, the other end of which is inturn pivotally connected at 25 to a second bell crank 26' pivotallymounted at 21 in bracket 28 upon the rear wall of the cigarette hopper.The

lower arm of bell crank 26 forms a shoe. positioned in the path of apackage of cigarettes during ejection by the plunger M of that cigarettechute. Through the mechanism just described a package of cigarettesduring ejection will rotate bell crank l8 forwardly (counterclockwise inFigure 2), removing the support 3' to move over to a position similar tothat of hopper 6', and in which position the column of cigarettestherein will'no longer be supported by shelf 31 and will descend intohopper 2 for delivery therefrom. As also shown in Figure 1, this actionhas already taken place in hopper 4 which is being supplied withcigarettes from the 1 swingable hopper 6'.

, when partially depleted.

Each of the swingable upper hoppers 3' and 5' is biased to the left by aspring 42, one end of which is afllxed to' the body ofp' he unit, as at43, and the other is attached through a piece 44 to the upper stud 33,previously referred to.

These hoppers, however, are normally prevented from swinging over by astop 45 positioned in front of the other, or lower, stud 34. Stop 45 isformed on an arm 46 pivoted on shaft 41 carried in brackets 48 on therear wall of the casing and normally held in the position of Figure 4where the stop45 prevents movement of stud 34. When, however, the columnof cigarettes in a hopper to be replenished is depleted to the pointindicated in colunm 2 of Figure 1, toe 38 is free tov move into thishopper through opening 4| and the next operation of the deliverymechanism for this hopper releases hopper 3' in the following manner: Asshown in Figures 3 and. 4, a cross bar gages the lower end of arm 46.When, however,

the other end 49 of the arm 49 is free, this results merely in rotatingarm 49 about its pivot by a pair of pins 30, one of which is affixed tothe rear wall of the container unit and the other of which is carried byan upright 3|, fastened to cross bar 9; These upper portions 3 and 5'are advantageously strengthened by cross braces 32 are adapted forloading either from the top or from the front, flanges I being 'cutaway, as shown in Figure 1, to permit the latter, and have at theirupper ends shelves or supports 31 which are clipped onto walls I attheir upper ends, as

shown in' Figure 1, and'may beremoved if desired. These shelves 3'!serve to support columns of cigarettes in containers 3 and 6 when thelatter are in the position of container'3' in Figure 1.-

As shown in Figure 1, the column of cigarettes contained in hopper 2 hasbeen depleted to a point where its top is just below shelf 31 in theadjoining hopper 3 and mechanism is about to be operated when anotherpackage is 'delivered from the hopper 2 to cause the swingable hopperpoint 60 and arm 46 is not moved. Toe 38, previously referred to, isprovided with a second and U-shaped arm 62 which, in the position ofFigures 4 and 5, lies in the path of the end 49 of arm 49. With thismember 62 in such position motion of lever It brings the end 49 incontact with arm 52 and further motion causes the other end 49' toengage arm 46, rotating it about its pivot point and clearing stop 46from stud 34. Thereupon the associated hopper 3 or plenished has notreached the point shown in column 2 of Figure l, toe 36' and arm 62attached thereto will be held in the dotted line position of Figure 5,so that arm 62 is not in position to be engaged by arm 49when the latter62, also, is a projection 63 which engages the wall of the unit in theull line position of Figure 5 and prevents rotation ast the position ofthis We. I I

" of the arrangement.

. stocked the machine of the prior art is adapted elm As it may bedesired to employ column 3 or Ii of the machine in the usual manner.theshelves 31, as has been mentioned previously, are made shiftmechanism inoperative when desired. This catch consists of a rotatablepiece 54 pivoted to the rear wall of the unit at 55 and having an arm 58adapted to pass between toe 38 and the rear wall of the unit to withholdthe same in the manner shown in Figure 5. The other arm 51 of this catchis slotted, as'shown in Figure 3, to receive a screw driver or the like,and an'opening in the rear wall of the unit is provided to .fumishaccess to it (see Figure 1). As is apparent,.th'e catch 54 may be set inthe position shown in Figure 3 in solid lines to permit shifting ofhopper 3' or Ii or may be rotated counterclockwise so as to bring arm 56in front of toe {I and prevent shifting of either or both of the hoppers3' and 5' in the manner described.

In the embodiment illustrated, the machine is provided with six hoppers,two of which are adapted to shift container operation. As will beapparent, however, the invention is applicable to machines havingdifferent numbers of hoppers without change in any of the featuresdescribed and in a six-hopper machine can readily be applied to threeinstead of two of the hoppers,in

such case alternate hoppers being adapted to shift operation. As is alsoapparent, the length of the shiftable hoppers such as 3 and 5' may bevaried. In the embodiment shown, hoppers 3' and 5' are adapted tocontain about two-thirds of the entire capacity. of thehoppers 3 and 5,

but it will be readily understood that the capacity of these hopperscould be any desired fraction of the total capacity within reasonablywide limits. Similarly, while the capacity of shift hoppers 3' and 5' isshown as the same, these hoppers can readily be made of differentlengths if'desired.

A comparison of the embodiment illustrated with a standard six-hoppermachine of the prior art reveals immediately the extreme flexibilityWhere six brands are to contain the brands only in equal amounts, if theentire capacity is to be utilized. The machine oi the present invention,however, can contain sixbrands also in'approximately the followingratios:

r-4-za-4-s |-.|-s-: -s-I The possibility of variation is greatlyincreased where only five brands are stocked, and

is also increased by the adaptation of three, instead of two, columns toshift operation accordin! to the invention.

What is claimed is: -.1. In a machine of the class v combination,- aplurality of chutes arranged in an alined series adapted to holdoolumnsof articles to be vended,.means for dis-I charging articles fromthe bottoms-of columns so held,rmeans for holding reservesupplies ofmeans responsive to depletion of articles in a given chute to apredetermined level to effect er of a reserve supply into the adjacentdescribed, and in ed, means for selectively discharging articles fromthebottoms of columns so held, one of said chutes comprising a movableupper portion adapted to hold a reserve supply of articles, and

means for shifting said upper portion 'over to discharge such reservesupply into an adjacent chute upon depletion of a column therein to apredetermined level.

3. In a machine of the class described, and in combination, a pluralityof adjacent chutes adapted to hold columns of articles to be vended,

means for selectively discharging articles from the bottoms of columnsso held, one of said chutes comprising a movable upper portion adaptedto hold a reserve supply of articles, and

means for shifting said .upper portion over to discharge such reservesupply into an adjacent chute comprising actuating means and controlmeans therefor operable by a column of articles within said adjacentchute upon said column being depleted to a predetermined level.

4. In a machine of the class described, and in combination, a pluralityof adjacent chutes adapted to hold columns of articles to be vended,

means for selectively discharging articles from the bottoms of columnsso held, one of said .chutes comprising a movable upper portion adaptedto hold a reserve supply of articles, and meansfor shifting said upperportion over to discharge such reserve supply into an adjacent chute,comprising a controlling member positioned at a predetermined level onsaid adjacent chute, adapted to extend into said adjacent chute andwithheld therefrom by'art'icles within said adiacent chute when a columntherein extends above said level.

5. In a machine of the class described, and'in combination, a pluralityof adjacent chutes adapted to hold columns of articles to beyonded,means for selectively discharging articles from the bottoms of columnssoheld, means for holding a reserve supply of articles comprising amovable upper portion of one of said chutes. and means for shifting saidupper portion over to discharge such reserve supply into an adjacentchute, comprising a controlling member, positioned at apredeterminedlevel on said adacent chute, adapted to extend into said chute andwithheld therefrom by articles within said chute when the column in saidchute extends above said level,-and an actuating member operable by saiddischarging means in discharging an article from said last mentionedchute and controlled by said controlling member. '6. In a machine of theclass described, and in combination, a plurality of adjacet chutesadapted to hold. columns of articles to'be vended. means for selectivelydischarging articles from the bottoms of columns so held, means for areserve supply of articles in the upper, "portion of one of said chutesand for transferring said reserve supply into an adjacent chute upondepletion of the column therein to a predetermined level, and means forrendering said transferring means inoperative and directing said reservesupply into the lower portion of the chute within which it is held.

ROBERT z. GREENE. L cnmsmn Game m N.

